A Twist In My Story
by kh3masterfan
Summary: What if the 11th incarnation of the Doctor had a traveling companion before Asylum Of The Daleks besides Rory and Amy? And when they left, he got left behind but soon ran into the Doctor the same time he had Clara? What complications will occur? (ClaraxOC) Rated T just to be safe
1. Asylum Of The Daleks

_So, this is my first Doctor Who FanFic so I hope it has some sort of justice to it. I've always wanted to write a story like this and well...now I have. It will follow only a few episodes to give the character a proper introduction as it takes place in Season 7 of Doctor Who, but don't worry, it will eventually become it's own story and slip away from the episodes in it's own time. But for now, here ya go!_

Chapter 1 : Asylum of the Daleks

The Doctor walked around the console of the Tardis, flipping switches and tapping buttons while thinking to himself. He froze in his movements as a memory of red hair and a soft, white smile flashed within his memories, joined with another figure with short and messy sandy blonde hair with a crooked smile. Squeezing his eyes tightly shut, he sighed with remorse at the thought of his two friends. He had recently left them messages to stay in contact but hasn't heard back from them in awhile. The Doctor couldn't help but feel that something was off with his past two companions but surely they would have contacted him if something was the matter, wouldn't they?

Hearing footsteps climb the small steps up to the console room from the Tardis's hallway entrance, The Doctor blocked his thoughts quickly and threw a smile onto his face and turned to look at his current companion aboard the Tardis. The figure was a man in his mid-twenties with short, messy brown hair that looked unbrushed as if he just rolled out of bed, with soft gray eyes and a pointed chin that was covered with a five o'clock shadow. He was as tall as the Doctor as he walked up to stand next to him by the console. He rolled his broad shoulders and leaned against the console with the palms of his hands, inspecting the screen of the monitor.

"Where are we off to Doctor?" The man spoke with an American accent; one the Doctor hasn't heard in awhile aboard the Tardis since Jack.

The Doctor smacked his hands together excitedly before brushing his hand through his brown hair that flipped to one side of his face. "Well James, I'm not quite sure but that's always the fun part isn't it?" He started flipping switches again before pointing his finger at the monitor. "I've been getting this signal from an unknown source, as always I thought 'What the hell' so I began to trace it."

James nodded. "And what was the source?"

The Doctor shrugged. "No clue yet, but we will know in just a few seconds…" With a few more flips and switches a light bell noise was heard as the Doctor quickly spun the monitor towards him and froze, face falling from a gleeful smile to a horrified frown.

James looked the the screen and back to the Doctor worried. "Doctor, what is it? What was the source?"

The Doctor sighed and started to fidget. "It's Skaro. Home of the Daleks. There's a distress signal coming from it, one not of Dalek origin." He started to play with the controls as the Tardis started to make a loud, screechy noise that indicated its flight.

"And you're just going to accept it? What if it's a trap?"

A loud bang was heard as the Tardis landed while the Doctor walked to the front door. "Of course it's a trap, but what can I say? I'm a sucker for calls of distress. Coming?" James followed the Doctor outside of the Tardis as they shut the door behind them. They were inside a metallic building where the ground was covered in old debris and dirt, metallic fragments and small shards of glass scattered across the area along with small fires that burned lightly. He followed closely behind the Doctor, taking in the sight of the destroyed ruins before him as the Doctor approached a cloaked figure that turned to see them, face barely noticeable.

The Doctor became tense as he approached the hooded figure. "I got your message. Not many people can do that, send me messages." His voice was quiet but stern as he walked closer to the figure.

"I have a daughter, Hannah. She's in a Dalek prison camp. They say you can help."

"Do they? I wish they'd stop." The Doctor walked to stand in front of the figure as James stayed quiet as he moved to the window to look outside at the view. There were more metallic buildings that stood tall as the orange sunset covered them, mountains visible within the distance. Much of the buildings were destroyed or partially collapsed. James remembered the Doctor once speaking of the Great Time War and how Skaro was destroyed beyond repair and his home planet Gallifrey was blown up by his own hands in an effort to cease the fighting. "Hell of a choice of meeting place." The Doctor's voice rang out from behind him.

The figure didn't budge from their spot. "They said I'd have to intrigue you."

The Doctor joined James sight-seeing out the window. "Skaro. The original planet of the Daleks. Look at the state of it." He turned back to look at the figure. "Who told you about me?"

The figure looked away quickly before making eye contact with the Time Lord again. "Does it matter?"

"Maybe not, but you're very well informed." He once again walked towards the figure. Raising his hands, he pushed off the hood to reveal the face of the figure. It was a woman with red hair that fell past her shoulders with chopped bangs and brown eyes. The Doctor's eyes narrowed as his voice rose with suspicion. "If Hannah's in a Dalek prison camp, tell me, why aren't you?"

"I escaped."

Her comment made the Doctor chuckle lightly. "No. Nobody escaped the Dalek camps." He reached out to grip the woman's hands. "You're very cold." He let go of the woman and grabbed James's arm, bringing him towards him as they walked backwards, away from the suspicious woman.

James swallowed a lump in his throat. "See, it's a trap."

The woman looked questionably at the man who stood next to the Doctor. "What is?"

The Doctor grit his teeth together. "You are. And you don't even know it."

Before they could continue, the woman's neck started to crack as a Dalek eye stalk broke out from her forehead. Stunned, the Doctor didn't have time to react as the woman rose her hand upwards as a Dalek laser broke out from the palm of her hand and shot the Doctor in his chest, knocking him to the ground unconscious. James quickly knelled next to the Doctor, checking for pulse. As he found one, he began to shake him by his shoulders. "Doctor? Doctor!" James let out a pained scream as another beam was heard and a hard, sharp pain struck him in the back, knocking him down next to the Time Lord. Before losing consciousness, he heard a robotic scream state that the Doctor and his companion were acquired.

James slowly opened his eyes and quickly shot upwards into a sitting position as he looked around the see nothing but white walls, white floors and a white ceiling. He groaned as he scratched the nape of his neck, squinting his eyes at the bright color. "Damn, can this room be more white?" He was startled by a slight chuckle and turned to his side to see the Doctor casually leaning against the white wall with his arms crossed.

"The Daleks aren't really ones for decoration. They don't have much emotions besides hatred, I guess having a bland color that matches their bland emotions is almost perfect for them." James rose to his feet as a swishing noise was heard as a door slid open, a bronze metallic Dalek rolling through the doorway.

"You two will follow me to be reunited with your friends." A high pitched robotic voice rang out from the machine.

James looked at the robot confused. "Friends?" The Doctor brushed past him, murmuring how it was about time. They followed the Dalek out of the room as another trailed closely behind. They were lead through a long, narrow white hallway as another door opened and a male voice was heard, questioning how much trouble they were in.

"How much trouble, Mr Pond?" The Doctor spoke as they walked into the room that held a pale skinned, red headed woman along with a tall but lanky male. All their eyes had met as the Doctor continued, a slight glimmer noticeable in his eyes at the sight of his old friends. "Out of 10? 11." They all looked above them as a hatch started to open up and the ground turned into a lift, pushing them slowly upwards and through the hole in the ceiling. They all stayed quiet, unsure of what was going on. Above them, higher up, was a glass skylight that showed the stars and the infinite amount of space that surrounded each individual star. The ground stopped moving as they entered a new room, as James was sure everyone's stomachs dropped at the same time, as they were greeted by hundreds of Daleks, that were all staring right back at them. The Tardis was only just a few feet away from them but everyone was much more concerned with the hundreds of Daleks that surrounded the room, as the four of them stood directly in the middle, eye-stalks facing them.

Amy was the first to speak up. "Where are we? Spaceship, right?" James noticed the Scottish accent layered in her voice. He heard the Doctor gulp next to him, nervously.

"Not just any spaceship. The Parliament of the Daleks." He turned to look at his three companions. "Be brave."

James fidgeted as he instantly felt sick to his gut. "What do we do?"

The Doctor lowered his voice. "Make them remember you." The three humans looked to each other confused as the Doctor returned to his stern stature, most likely filled with more fear than them. He stepped slightly forward towards the front of the room as he rose his arms. "Well, come on, then. You've got me. What are you waiting for? At long last, it's Christmas!" Every Dalek in the room turned their attention to the Time Lord. "Here I am!" He closed his eyes tightly as if waiting to be shot. As they all waited in anticipation, a light robotic voice rang out among the crowd.

"Save us." They all looked around confused as if unsure if they heard the Dalek correctly. "You will save us."

The Doctor looked to the front of the room, more confused as ever. "I'll what?"

"You will save the Daleks." The entire room of Daleks started to chant the repeated phrase almost religiously.

A small smirk spread across the Doctor's face. "Well...this is new." As the chanting stopped, the Doctor started to pace while periodically staring at the watch on his wrist.

Rory leaned towards Amy curious. "What's he doing?"

Amy crossed her arms across her chest as if almost annoyed by the question. "He's chosen the most defend-able area in the room, counted all the Daleks, counted all the exits and now he's calculating the exact distance we're standing apart and he's starting to worry. Oh! And look at him frowning now. 'Something's wrong with Amy and Rory and who's going to fix it?'." The Doctor continued to stare at them before raising his fingers to his bow-tie. "And he straightens his bow-tie."

James looked to Amy astonished. "Wow, you really got him down flat."

She shrugged. "He's my best friend. I've known him ever since his tastings for fish fingers and custard." She smiled lightly as she heard James gag in disgust.

A Dalek voice rang out from behind the Doctor. "We have arrived."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Arrived where?"

"Doctor?" James looked to the source of the voice and was freaked out when his eyes met a squid-like creature that was enclosed in a glass casing. The same red headed woman that was in the building from before walked over and stood next to the un-sheltered Dalek. "The Prime Minister will speak with you now." The Doctor slowly walked up to the woman before whispering to her quietly.

"Do you remember who you were before they emptied you out and turned you into their puppet?"

She shrugged. "My memories are only reactivated if they are required to facilitate deep cover or disguise."

"You had a daughter."

"I know. I've read my file." She stretched her arm outwards towards the Dalek Minister as the Doctor was shocked at her emotionless response. He walked up to the Dalek Prime Minister and sighed. "Well?"

"What do you know of the Dalek Asylum?"

"According to legend, you have a dumping ground. A planet where you lock up all the Daleks that go wrong. The battle-scarred, the insane, the ones even you can't control. Which never made any sense to me."

"Why not?"

The Doctor started to walk aimlessly in a circle, thinking. "Because you'd just kill them."

The Dalek Prime Minister did not seem pleased by the Doctor's statement. "It is offensive to us to extinguish such divine hatred."

The Doctor turned to look back at the Dalek Minister, appalled. "Offensive?"

"Does it surprise you to know that Daleks have a concept of beauty?"

The Doctor walked back up to the glass case, his face inches from it as he was eye to eye with the Dalek. "I thought you'd run out of ways to make me sick. But hello again. You think hatred is beautiful?"

The Doctor walked away disgusted as he quickly froze at the Dalek's next statement. "Perhaps that is why we have never been able to kill you."

Before the Doctor was able to retort, the three human companions jumped backwards as a small hole opened up at their feet, as a gray metallic planet surrounded by a blue force field was below them. Curious, the Doctor rejoined his companions at the center of the room to also gaze down at the planet below. The woman joined them as well and spoke to answer their confusion.

"The asylum. It occupies the entire planet, right to the core."

James looked at the planet in wonder. "How many Daleks are in there?"

"A count has not been made. Millions, certainly."

The Doctor spoke up, nervously. "All still alive?"

"It has to be assumed. The asylum is fully automated. Supervision is not required."

"Armed?" Amy asked, gaining the woman's attention. She turned to look at the similar haired woman. "The Daleks are always armed."

Rory placed his hands on his hips. "What color?" They all looked at him confused as Rory fidgeted. "Sorry, there weren't any good questions left."

James patted his back humorously as the woman continued. "This signal is being received from the very heart of the asylum." A record noise was heard as Bizet's song 'Carmen' started playing. One of the Daleks screeched out in annoyance, asking what the noise was and demanded an explanation.

The Doctor rose his hand. "It's me." They looked at the Doctor confused. "It's me playing the triangle." He starts to laugh as he imitates holding a triangle and striking it with a small metal rod. "Okay, I got buried in the mix. Carmen, lovely show." He started to wave around his sonic screwdriver, examining the music. "Someone's transmitting this. Have you considered tracking back the signal and talking to them?" The Doctor looked around and mentally smacked himself in the face for even asking such a question. He turned his attention to the speaker as he called out for a response. "Hello? Hello, Carmen! Hello! Come in, come in, come in Carmen."

James was surprised when the music instantly shut off as a female voice rang out among the speakers in a rushed panic. "Hello! Yes, yes! Sorry. Do you read me?"

The Doctor threw his hands up happily. "Yes! Reading you loud and clear. Identify yourself and report your status."

The girl was quiet for a second before speaking again. "Hello. Are you real? Are you actually, properly real?"

The Doctor laughed to himself. "Yeah, confirmed. Actually, properly real." He looked back to his friends with a playful smirk on his face.

"Oswin Oswald. Junior Entertainment Manager, Star-ship Alaska. Current status, crashed and shipwrecked somewhere...not nice. Been here a year, rest of the crew missing, provision is good but keen to move on."

The Doctor looked puzzled. "A year? Are you okay? Are you under attack?"

"Some local life forms. Been keeping them out."

"Do you know what those life forms are?"

"I know a Dalek when I hear one, yeah."

James shifted his feet as he crossed his arms intrigued, as the Doctor continued to question Oswin. "What have you been doing on your own against the Daleks for a year?"

Oswin was quiet before embarrassingly admitting that she had been making souffles. James laughed lightly to her comment, while slightly wondering if when they got down there he could try a souffle. He had never had one before and wondered if they were any good. The Doctor also laughed at her comment. "Making souffles, against the Daleks? Where do you get the milk?"

A Dalek voice broke their conversation to state that the conversation was irrelevant as the Doctor spun around annoyed. "No, it isn't! Because a star-ship has crashed into your asylum and someone's got in. And if someone can get in, then everything can get out. A tsunami of insane Daleks. Even you don't want that."

The Dalek rolled closer to the Doctor. "The asylum must be cleansed."

"Then why is it still here? You've enough firepower on this ship to blast it out of the sky."

The women spoke up from behind the Doctor. "The asylum force field is impenetrable."

"Turn it off."

"It can only be turned off from within the asylum."

The Doctor waved off the woman. "A small task force could sneak through a force field. Send in a couple of Daleks." The Doctor paused in his ranting. "Oh!" He started to clap as he looked to all the silent Daleks. "Oh! Ah, that's good, that's brilliant. You're all too scared to go down there. Not one of you will go, so tell me. What do the Daleks do when they're too scared?"

A silver metallic Dalek screeched out from the front of the room. "The Predator of the Daleks will be deployed."

"You don't have a predator. And even if you did, why would they turn off a force field for you?"

The Prime Minister of the Daleks spoke up. "Because you will have no other means of escape." The Doctor looked around confused as the woman walked up to him. "May I clarify?" The Doctor nodded for her to continue. "The Predator is a Dalek's word for you."

"Me?"

Two men walked up to the Doctor. "You will need this. It will protect you from the nano cloud."

One of the men attached a black metal wristband to his wrist that had a blue light in the middle as the Doctor questioned what she meant. "The gravity beam will convey you close to the source of the transmission. You must find a way to deactivate the force field from there."

The three companions jumped back once more as a white gravity beam shot out from the hole in the ground as the Doctor was pushed towards it, back near them. "You're going to fire me at a planet? That's your plan? I get fired at a planet and expected to fix it?"

Rory leaned forward to look at the Doctor. "In fairness, that is slightly your MO."

He looked up at Rory offended. "Don't be fair to the Daleks when they're firing me at a planet." James was shocked when he felt a tug on his wrist and looked down to see a similar metal wristband like the Doctors be placed on his wrist along with Amy and Rory. "What do you want with them?" The Doctor questioned about his friends.

The silver Dalek rose his voice to be heard over the force field, as he stated that the Doctor had always had his companions by his side in dangerous situations. Rory and James groaned at the same time as the Doctor tried to console them. "Don't worry. We'll get through this, I promise. Don't be scared."

Amy turned to the Doctor with a smirk on her face. "Scared? Who's scared? Geronimo." The Doctor laughed at the use of his catchphrase from his companion but was cut short when they were all pushed into the gravity beam. They all started to scream as Rory was upside down and covered his eyes, the Doctor screaming as if he was on a roller coaster and Amy screamed for Rory as James was falling back first, unable to see how close the ground was yet. As they neared the Planet, they were shot in different directions. Amy and the Doctor went one way as Rory was shot another. James fell in his own direction and landed with an 'oomph' at the sudden impact of the snowy ground. James slowly opened his eyes as he inclined his back, groaning in pain. He looked around to see if anyone else was nearby and jumped slightly when his eyes made contact with a Dalek eye stalk, poked out of the snowy ground, staring right at him. He let out a smirk as the song Carmen started playing. It was quickly cut short before Oswin's voice rang out.

"Sorry! Sorry, pressed the wrong switch."

James rose onto his elbows slightly as he inched towards the eye stalk. "Oswin?"

Oswin let out a chuckle. "Hey, you remembered my name. 10 points for you. Are you okay...um?"

James flipped his body to rest on his chest in the snow, facing the Dalek eye. "James."

"Ah, James. Nice name. Are you okay?"

James nodded. "Yeah, I think so. Hard landing but I'm good. Say Oswin, how are you doing this? Talking through an old Dalek eye stalk?"

"Well, it's very easy to hack."

James smiled. "Not only can you cook but you're a genius too. Where are you?"

"Ship broke up when it hit. I'm somewhere underground, I think. You coming to get me?"

James nodded. "Of course! Once I reunite with everyone, I'll make sure we come and get you but only if you promise one thing."

He noticed Oswin's slight hesitation before he continued. "What would that be?"

He tapped the glass of the eye-stalk. "You make me one of your fantastic souffles. Never had one."

Oswin chuckled. "I don't know, I'm not the best at making them. It was mom's secret recipe and I can't seem to get it right. Also, I doubt someone of your type has yet to have a souffle."

James pretended to look offended. "My type? What, the American type?" He laughed along with Oswin.

"Close. More like the handsome American type."

James scratched his head. "Handsome? Normally I would comment back but I can't see you. Does it help if I say that so far you sound pretty?"

Oswin smirked behind her monitor as a slight blush spread across her cheeks. "Wait until you see me."

He shrugged. "Brilliant, cocky and can cook? Can't wait." Before their conversation could continue the light in the Dalek eye shut off. "Oswin?" After getting no response, James groaned as he got back on his feet and looked around for any sight of his friends.

"James!"

James spun around to see the Doctor and Amy running towards him along with a black male in a snow suit following closely behind. He looked at the man confused, swearing that earlier he had heard Oswin state that her crew went missing. Shaking it off, he greeted his friends as Amy drastically asked if he had seen where Rory went. Nodding, he lead them in the direction of the other beam as they came across a crater. The crater looked endless as they knelled beside it as Amy shouted for Rory, afraid for him. The unknown male quickly stated that there might be another way down to Rory, which made Amy jump up without any hesitation.

"Lead the way."


	2. Unhappy Endings

Chapter 2 : Unhappy Endings

The unknown man led Amy, James and the Doctor to a hidden hatch within the snow. James could tell Amy was panicked for Rory's well-being, whereas the Doctor was calm and content like he always is. Perhaps that is how he can get through certain situations better than everybody else.

The unknown man walked over to the hatch and started to pry it open. "We came down two days ago. There's 12 other escape pods. I don't know what happened to them."

They attempted to help the man brush off the snow to reveal the rest of the metallic pod. Amy brushed a part off with her foot and gasped out surprised. Beneath her foot on the metallic pod, the name _Alaska_ was printed in red, bold letters. "Alaska? That's the same ship as souffle girl."

James mumbled something that made Amy question what was said. James halted his brushing of the snow and looked back up to Amy. "I said, her name is Oswin. We chatted not too long ago."

The Doctor brushed off his hands. "How?"

James shrugged. "She hacked into an old Dalek eye stalk that was buried beneath the snow and used it to communicate with me."

The Doctor shook his head while scratching the side of his face confused. "No, no. That's impossible. Dalek technology can't be hacked."

"Well, not for nothing Doctor. I'm pretty sure we just met someone who can."

Before the Doctor could continue, his mind quickly switched in another direction as he looked towards Amy shocked. "Wait a moment...Oswin said that she has been here for over a year."

Amy looked to the unknown man who started to climb down the ladder and into the ship. "What does that mean then?" The Doctor didn't answer as he followed the man down the ladder. Amy shook her head as if unsure as James allowed her to climb down next, as he soon followed. Once they were within the ship, the man started to look around for some rope while their eyes settled on more white hooded figures. The Doctor placed a smile on his face almost expectantly.

"Won't you introduce us to your crew?"

The man was startled at first. "Ah, yeah, sorry. Guys, this is the Doctor, James and Amy." The Doctor waved to the unmoving crew as the man looked at them confused. The Doctor looked back to James and Amy as if proving a point and walked up to a crew member, pulling them back to reveal a decaying corpse, skeleton starting to show. He quickly pulled out his sonic screwdriver and started to scan all of the bodies and everyone stayed silent. After doing a quick scan, he put his screwdriver away and sighed.

"They're dead. All of them."

The man shook his head in disbelief. "That's not possible. I just spoke to them. Two hours ago we were doing engine repairs."

The Doctor pulled back another white hood to reveal another skeleton as he looked up to the man skeptically. "You're sure about that, are you? 'Cause I'd say they've all been dead for a very long time."

Once again the man protested that it was impossible while Amy looked to one of the bodies, disgusted. "Well, they didn't get in this state in two hours."

They were silent for a moment before the man sighed. "Of course. Stupid me."

James stepped closer to Amy, away from the man. "Of course what?"

Emotionless, the man looked toward him. "I died outside...and the cold preserved my body. I forgot about dying." They all stood watching the man as a Dalek eye stalk broke out from his forehead. The Doctor quickly grabbed a fire extinguisher and sprayed the man, pushing him into an open door as Amy quickly shut it and locked it. Surprised, she looked to the Doctor, nervously.

"Explain, that's what you're good at, how did he get all Daleked?"

The Doctor threw up his wrist to show off the metallic wristband. "Because he wasn't wearing one of these." He started to laugh as he looked back to the undead crew who were still seated in their chairs. "Oh, ho, ho! That's clever! The nano cloud. Microorganisms that automatically process any organic matter, living or dead, into a Dalek puppet." He laughed once more as he patted the skull of one of the skeletons. "Anything that attacks this place it automatically becomes part of the on-site security."

James and Amy looked to each other frightened as James approached the Doctor. "Living or dead?"

"The wristbands protect us." The Doctor continued. The only thing stopping us going exactly the way he did…"

Amy clenched her eye shut before opening them again to look at her best friend. "Doctor, shut up. Living or dead?"

"Yes, exactly. Living or…" Multiple sounds that resembled a sickening cracking noise was heard throughout the room as the trio looked to the undead crew, as Dalek eye-stalks started to pop out from the decayed skulls and they began to stand up from their chairs, turning to face them. The Doctor swallowed harshly. "...dead. Oh dear." They quickly pushed through the walking carcass's and towards the door on the other side. The Doctor started to push and kick the walking skeletons out of his way as they ran through the open door. Before they could run further, Amy's wrist was quickly grabbed by one of the skeletons. The Doctor and James grabbed onto her and attempted to pull her backwards, away from the threat, until the Doctor kicked the close button, sealing the door.

Away from the threat, they began to catch their breath as Amy let out a chuckle. "Is it bad that I've really missed this?" The Doctor nodded as a female voice rang out over the PA system.

"Unauthorized personnel may not enter the cockpit." The Doctor mumbled for the voice to shut up as James held his breath. "Oswin." He breathed out.

"James." Oswin let out a smirk before the Doctor walked up to one of the cameras that she was hacking. "Whoa, look who doesn't have a sense of humor. And that chin! Bad combo." Amy and James snickered at Oswin bashing the Doctor.

He started to scratch his chin, annoyed. "Oi, what's wrong with my chin?"

"Careful, dear. You'll pull someone's eye out. I'm scanning you. You're in another of the escape pods from the Alaska, it seems your power's on."

"How can you hack into everything? It should be impossible. You're in a crashed ship!"

"Long story. Is there a word for 'total screaming genius' that sounds modest and a tiny bit sexy?"

James smirked. "Oswin."

Oswin blushed slightly as the Doctor turned around and glared at him. "More like 'the Doctor'." Hearing the Doctor, Oswin quickly shook off her blush and turned her attention to the Doctor.

"See what you did there?" A beeping was heard as Oswin's voice quickly turned from playful to serious. "Check the floor. I'm picking up a breach at floor level. There could be a way out. See ya later!"

As Oswin vanished, the Doctor looked towards James shaking his head as Amy crossed her arms and nudged him. James shrugged defensively. "What?"

Amy rolled her eyes. "You were flirting."

James blushed. "No, I wasn't. I was...shut up." Amy laughed as they started to quickly move things around until they found a hatch in the floor. They started to pry open the hatch while the Doctor started to question Amy and Rory's life, which led Amy to state that life goes on and isn't always something you can fix like he fixes his bow-tie. As they opened the hatch all the way, they noticed that a ladder was already placed to lead down the hatch. The skeletons continued to bang against the door, leading them to look up to see what it was that they were up to, when they noticed that they were holding one of the wristbands that helped protect them against the nano cloud. Amy looked towards her wrist and started to panic, as they realized that the wristband they had acquired, had belonged to Amy.

Later on, they had met up with Rory after a few Daleks that were in the way had been destroyed by the Doctors clever engineering. Unfortunately, Amy had succumbed to unconsciousness as the nano clouds were getting into her body, as they retreated to somewhere more safe and laid her down against the ground.

Rory looked down to Amy, worried. "Will sleeping help her? Will it slow down the process?"

"You'd better hope so." Oswin's voice rang out on the PA system again as they turned to look at a camera that had dropped down from the ceiling. "Because pretty soon she's going to try and kill you." Amy started to gain consciousness as Rory asked if she was okay. After not getting a response, he asked if she had remembered him, only to receive a slap to the face. The Doctor and James let out a chuckle as Rory tried to shake off what just happened.

Oswin shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "Do you know how you make someone into a Dalek? Subtract love, add anger. Doesn't she seem a bit too angry to you?" Amy retorted with how she needs to visit Scotland. Before James could make a comment, the Doctor unfortunately ruined the moment.

"What about you though, Oswin? How come you're okay? Why hasn't the nano cloud converted you?"

"I mentioned the genius thing, yeah? Shielded in here."

The Doctor hummed to himself as he was deep in thought. "Clever of you. Now, this place. The Daleks said it was fully automated. But look at it, it's a wreck."

Oswin's sigh was heard over the PA. "Well, I've had nearly a year to mess with them. And...not a lot else to do."

The Doctor shook his head, still not accepting what was being heard. "A junior entertainment manager hiding out in a wrecked ship, hacking the security systems of the most advanced warrior race the universe has ever seen. But you know what really gets me about you, Oswin? The souffles. Where do you get the milk, for the souffles?" He turned back around to his companions. "Seriously, is no-one else wondering about that?"

James clenched his teeth together. "No. Honestly, I'm more concerned about the hundreds of Daleks down here that want to kill us, along with the hundreds of Daleks in the sky, that want to kill us. So, no."

The room was silent before Oswin's voice was heard once more. "So, Doctor. I've been looking you up, you're all over the database. Why do the Daleks call you the Predator?"

He started to rub his eyes. "I'm not a predator. I'm just a man with a plan."

"You've got a plan?" Oswin's voice rang out with hope as James stated that they were all ears to the Doctors wondrous plan.

The Doctor clapped his hands together before straightening his bow-tie. "In no particular order, we need to neutralize all the Daleks in this Asylum, rescue Oswin from the wreckage, escape from this planet and fix Amy's and Rory's marriage."

Amy and Rory looked to each other before Amy rolled her eyes. "Okay, I'm counting three lost causes, anyone else?" Rory stood up and walked away upset. The Doctor started to converse with Oswin about the force field that surrounded the planet and an efficient way to turn it off, without all of them being blown to smithereens.

Oswin crossed her arms. "I'll drop the force field, but first you have to come get me."

The Doctor paused his actions. "No, you drop it and come to us."

"How do I know you won't just leave me?"

The room was silent as James coughed loudly into his hands. "I vote not leaving Oswin behind."

Typing was heard over the speaker system. "James, I'm sending you a map to come get me. Bring the Doctor as well. Please, hurry. I'm anxious to leave here."

James nodded. "On our way." He grabbed the arm sleeve of the Doctor and quickly walked off in the direction Oswin had shown them. Walking through corridor after corridor, they were finally less than 20 feet away from Oswin. As they proceeded down the hallway, they froze once they realized that they were surrounded by Daleks. As Oswin talked about which planets each Dalek was from, the color from the Doctor's face drained more and more at the mention of each place. James noticed and placed a hand on the Doctor's shoulder, gaining his attention.

"Doctor? Are you alright, what's wrong?"

The Doctor's eyes roamed the room as he could only hear the rhythm of his two hearts within his ears. "I know these Daleks...all of them. They are the one who survived me, way back when."

James's eyes widened as he laughed nervously. "Well, this is intensive care isn't it? Perhaps they are all asleep." As if the moment James had mentioned their slumber, they had all started to mutter the word 'Doctor' as they rebooted and started to advance towards them. The Doctor and James backed into a closed door as the Doctor screamed for Oswin to assist them. As the Daleks were but inches from them, they instantly became quiet and backed away from the Time Lord and Human.

Oswins chuckle was heard over the PA system. "Oh, tell me I'm cool."

James swallowed harshly and let out the breath he was holding as his voice started to crack. "You're cool…"

The Doctor watched the Daleks retreat, shocked and confused. "Oswin what...what did you do? Tell me, what did you do?"

"The Daleks, they have a hive mind. Well, they don't, they have a sort of telepathic web. I hacked into it, did a mass delete on all the information connected with the Doctor."

The Doctor looked at James shocked. "They forgot about me...I tried to hack into the telepathic web myself but even I couldn't do it." Before James could retort to his statement the door behind them had opened and turned around as Oswin told them to 'meet the girl who can'. As they walked into the white padded room they froze instantly, their breath caught in their throats again. It was silent until Oswin's voice rang out in the room.

"Hey, you're right outside. Come on in."

James could feel his heart sink as she sounded so cheerful...so hopeful, as he knew the Doctor could feel the same way. He sighed and mumbled how this seems to always happen to him, trying to lighten the mood but it didn't work. Not even for him.

"Oh, James! I found it!"

The Doctor looked over to James with a sad look as James cleared his throat. "Found what, Oswin?"

"My Mum's cookbook. Maybe when I get out of here you could help me make this souffle right. I've looked for it for so long, I thought I lost it." James was silent as he looked toward the ground and Oswin noticed his silence and looked toward her monitor worried. "James?"

James shook his head. "I'm so sorry...but I don't think we can."

Oswin felt her stomach drop as her eyes softened. "What do you mean…"

The Doctor stepped forward cautiously. "Oswin, we have a problem."

Silence once more, until Oswin's shaky voice was heard. "No, we don't. Don't even say that. Joined the Alaska to see the universe, ended up stuck in a shipwreck first time out. Rescue me, chin boy, and show me the stars."

"Does it look real to you?"

"Does what look real?"

"Where you are right now. It's a dream, Oswin. You dreamed it for yourself because the truth was too terrible."

James looked away as he couldn't stand to look at what their eyes had laid upon when they first entered the room. It was heart breaking to know that Oswin's world was soon to be shattered. This was the worst part traveling with the Doctor, the heartbreak and misery that seemed to follow them everywhere they went. Oswin let out a breathy ' _Where am I?_ ' that seemed to make everything ten times worse.

They were standing in front of a gold plated Dalek that was wrapped up in chains as Oswin responded through the Dalek, as it's robotic voice joined hers. The Doctor calmly walked up to the robot and started to brush his hand across the metal. "Because you are a Dalek. You were human when you crashed here. It was you who climbed out of the pod. That was your ladder. You're not human. Not any more. Because you're right. You're a genius. And the Daleks need genius. They didn't just make you a puppet, they did a full conversion. Oswin, I am so sorry, but you are a Dalek. The milk, Oswin. The milk and the eggs for the soufflés. Where, where did it all come from? It wasn't real. It was never real."

The Dalek started to ring out a noise as if trying to say something. The Doctor backed away slowly, confused. "Oswin?"

"Ex. Ter. Minate."

The Dalek started to scream out 'exterminate' as it broke free from it's chains and advanced towards the Doctor and James. As they were being backed into the doorway once more, they tried screaming out to Oswin to stop. When the Dalek halted, a hiccuped noise began to emit from the Dalek as the Doctor was confused. James's hands started to shake as he realized what the noise was. It was crying.

Oswin was crying.

"Why do they hate you so much? They hate you so much. Why?"

The Doctor held up his hand defensively as he spoke. "I fought them, many times. I've tried to stop."

"Then run. I've taken down the force field. I am Oswin Oswald and I am human."

The Doctor stared at the Dalek in disbelief. "Thank you."

"Remember me."

The Doctor ran off as James stood there upset. "Oswin…"

"Go."

"But-"

"GO!"

James nodded his head defeated as he ran off towards the Doctor. He quickly caught up to him as everything started to explode around them. When they re-entered the room with Rory and Amy, they had found them kissing. James shook his head as the Doctor ripped the control unit from their heads. "Looks like they worked out." The Doctor smacked the button as they were all immediately teleported into the Tardis. Rory and Amy parted as the Doctor started to talk to the Daleks, gloating.

Amy looked to James confused. "Where's Oswin."

He didn't make eye contact as he walked over to the steps of the Tardis that led to the never ending hallways and sat down. "Long story."

The Doctor reentered the Tardis and started to hit the controls, heading into flight mode as they vanished into space. Amy went to go sit next to James as Rory walked over to the Doctor. James noticed the Scottish woman next to him and sighed, knowing what was coming next.

"She was never real, was she?"

James shook his head. "She was. Just in a different way then we anticipated. It's weird though."

"What is?"

He started to fidget with his hands. "Oswin. Every-time we spoke to one another it was as if we've said it before. Everything just felt familiar with her, as if I've met her before. However, I haven't so I'm confused why I feel this way."

Amy started to rub his back as she nodded. "Yeah. Traveling with the Doctor can have that effect on you. Who knows? Maybe you will meet again. Anything is possible with the Doctor."

The Doctor shot up behind them excited. "Exactly! For instance, Amy and Rory are back together, no harm no foul, happy endings!" He twirled around as he went back to the console as Amy and James shook their heads.

The four of them started traveling everywhere with each other. They went to the wild west and stopped a cyborg from killing a man, ended up on a spaceship where there were Dinosaurs, witnessed black cubes falling from the sky that had sent everyone into cardiac arrest, all up to their last trip in Manhattan where the Weeping Angels took over New York City in the 1930's and Amy and Rory fell off a rooftop to create a paradox.

The Doctor was gripping the edge of the console defeated as James sat on the metallic railing of the Tardis, holding the same posture. They had just departed with River Song and now they were still in silence. They were so close, but then Rory was swept away once more by a Weeping Angel when they re-entered the graveyard. His name was engraved on a Tombstone as Amy decided to be taken as well, her name joining his. He can remember all too well the tears that were formed in all their eyes as the Doctor fell to his knees as his best friends were taken from him willingly.

James sighed as he had come to a decision. "Doctor...I can't do this anymore."

"Shut up." The Doctor's voice rang out harshly. James looked at him confused as he turned around and walked towards him. "Don't say that, not now. Don't do this to me. I can't lose you too."

James slid off the railing as he gripped the shoulders of the Doctor. "I'm not going anywhere Doctor, but I think I need a break. First Oswin and now the Ponds...I can't. I will still travel with you but I need some time. I think you should take some time off too. Find a place where you can be alone with your thoughts and just...think. Then when all of this is over, you can come back to me with your magical Tardis and we can continue where we left off."

The Doctor met his eyes as he nodded. "You're right. You're right...for once." He let out a soft smirk that James returned. "I could go to the Crystalline Planet where everything is made of Crystals that shine in the purple, moonlit sky...or even just live on a cloud where all I see is the stars, or maybe even the planet where the trees sing soft music…" He nodded as he hugged James tightly. As they parted, the Doctor set course for Earth once more and materialized the Tardis outsides of James's apartment that resided in Upstate New York. As James walked to exit the Tardis, he turned back towards the Doctor. "Hey Doc, return to me with some good news next time, eh?"

The Doctor nodded as James exited the Tardis. As he walked up to his front door and fished for his key in a nearby plant, the sound of the Tardis dematerializing was heard. Finding the key, he unlocked his door and stepped inside as he closed the door behind him. Placing his keys on the table next to the door, he walked over to his couch and laid down, turning on the T.V while flipping through the channels for something to watch. Already after five minutes, he was incredibly bored but knew that he had to stick with it to try and forget all that has happened. He stopped flipping channels when he decided to leave it on the channel 'Adult Swim' as 'Robot Chicken' was in the middle of an episode.

The days went on slowly for James, as soon they turned into weeks. As he was making breakfast one morning, the doorbell to his apartment rang. He slowly walked to the door, scuffing his feet against the carpet as if dragging his tired body to the door. Opening the door, he looked down to notice a package on the steps. Picking it up, he kicked the door closed with his foot as he walked back over to the kitchen counter. Opening the mysterious box, he found an odd leather wrist band inside with a note attached to it. Opening the note, he saw writing in cursive as he squinted his tired eyes, trying to make out the words.

 _James,_

 _I noticed that you were once a traveling companion with the Doctor and can only assume how boring your life has become seen you two have departed. I am an old friend of the Doctor and have a way of keeping track of him. I was researching where he has been recently and found him somewhere in the past by evidence of an old soviet photograph. The wristband that I have sent you is a Vortex Manipulator and already has time coordinates locked into it. When the button is pressed it will take you to the same time as the Doctor. Give or take a couple of days behind...as you know, time is very tricky. I'm not quite sure when you will receive this package for I have never sent something overseas before. Also, I will admit that I am quite worried about sending my precious cargo to you since god only knows what an American will do with the free ability to time travel. Anyways, strap it on and don't hold your breath or else you might become unconscious. I hope to receive this soon but I am sure the Doctor will return it once he sees you have it. Good luck James, and I hope we meet again in the near future._

 _Kate_

Confused James held the wristband in his hands as he opened the lip of it to see flashing lights and three buttons across the top. Curious, he ruffled his messy brown hair that has yet to be tamed from the fight with the pillow as he rubbed his thumb across the buttons. Accidentally pressing his thumb down onto one of the buttons, a zapping noise was heard as he quickly looked up to see that he was no longer in his kitchen. Looking around, he was in a small metal room with rows of bunk beds as soviet soldiers laid within them, starting to wake up. Stunned, he stood there still as one of the soviet soldiers who was around his age walked up to him and smacked him on the back.

"You look like you've been through hell." He chuckled as James stood there in his white t-shirt and red boxer shorts. James looked at all the soldiers getting into their uniforms as the same guy who talked to him came back up and handed him a uniform. "Close your mouth and get dressed. Got a long day of being undersea ahead of us."

James held the uniform confused as he still continued to look around. "What…" Metallic creaking was heard as the room rocked slightly. They were in a submarine. "What…" Quickly a screeching noise rang out through the submarine as the lights started blinking red. A voice rang out on the intercom that they were under attack as the men uttered the annoyance of the morning drill and quickly ran off to their stations, leaving James behind. "What!?" Deciding to get dressed, he threw on the uniform quickly as to not seem out of place and quickly halted as a noise rang through his ears. It was a nasally sound that he knew all too well. He soon heard the Doctor's voice yell out, followed by screams. "WHAT!?"


	3. The Cold War

Chapter 3 : Cold War

James straightened his clothes before following the voice of the screaming Doctor. Rushing into a hallway, his feet quickly became cold and wet as he looked down to see water that has leaked through the metallic walls of the submarine, already rising to his ankles. Puttering through the water he walked further until the shouting was audible. Gripping onto the doorway and pulling himself though, hands gripping to hold on due to the ship rocking drastically, he proceeded through to see the Doctor backed up to a pole and the commander searching his coat. His back was facing him and before he could be slightly excited from seeing him again, his face fell as his eyes landed on a female who was facing him on the other side of the pole. His eyes squinted as he looked at her.

She was wearing a silk, light blue dress that held a specific shine to it with diamond like heels, along with her brown hair tied into a ponytail. _Who the hell is this girl? Why is she with the Doctor?_

Suddenly, James started to feel jealous over the girl. _He said he would return but instead he left me for a side chick? Who does she think she is?_

Their eyes quickly met and James's jealousy quickly vanished as he looked at her closely. Her eyes held curiosity yet fear, as she was surrounded by soldiers. They continued to stare at each other as if the world had slowed down. The Doctor's voice has vanished from his ears along with the blasting siren that had been going off. James couldn't lie - she was attractive but there was something more...something he was missing. It was a feeling he hasn't felt since…

The ship rocked harshly once more as the girl started to lose her footing. The Doctor tried to turn around but a soldier held him still. "Clara? Clara!"

Clara tried to catch herself as she yelled for the Doctor. Losing her footing she crashed into the water and it was as if the sound of her body hitting the water snapped James out of this stupor. He quickly ran over to the falling girl, treading slowly through the water and grabbed her by her shoulders, yanking her upwards. Flipping her over, he noticed that she had fell unconscious and quickly checked for a pulse on her neck. Feeling a steady heartbeat, he kneeled down further to bring her closer into his arms and out of the water. James stayed there confused. Her voice sounded similar to Oswin, but she died. Didn't she?

Someone moving through the water behind him was heard as the Doctor quickly crouched down in front of him to examine the sleeping mystery. Without looking up, he gripped James' shoulder and sighed.

"Thanks for getting to her mate. Don't know what I'd do…" The Doctor looked up shocked as his eyes fell onto his past companion. "...without her." The Doctor hesitated under the glare James had sent his way.

"Doctor...you have a lot of explaining to do."

Moments later, everyone had left the control room of the submarine and joined back together in a wide hallway. Clara was placed sitting straight up against a wall with James' jacket draped around her. The Doctor had his arms crossed as James continued questioning him.

"Doctor, I don't mind being left behind...no, scratch that. I do mind being left behind, but I'm not that mad since I was the one who left in the first place." The Doctor scratched his head slightly confused.

"Okay, I think I understand."

James shook his head. "Anyways Doc, it's good to see you again."

"Speaking of that, how did you get here? It sure wasn't by the Tardis." James lifted his wrist to show the vortex manipulator as the Doctor gripped his wrist shocked.

"Where the hell did you get this?"

James shrugged. "An old friend of yours sent it to me. It already had the time coordinates locked into it that would take me to you. I believe her name was Kate?"

The Doctor threw down his wrist annoyed. "Kate Lethbridge-Stewart...I swear she will be the one who drives me gray…" He brushed his hand through his hair and waved a finger at James. "When we get out of this I'm-"

"Yeah, I know. Ripping it off and returning it, she mentioned you'd do something like that." James chuckled as he looked towards a passed out Clara concerned. "So, who is she Doc?"

The Doctor crossed his arms as he looked to Clara skeptically. "She's a mystery that I must solve." He looked to the side to see James looking at her and bit his lip. "It's her you know. Oswin."

James shook his head. "Shut up. That's impossible."

The Doctor shrugged. "Not probable. After you left, I went to victorian London to relax, catch my thoughts and there she is. Except her name back then was Clara Oswin Oswald and she was a nanny. She died there as well."

James looked at the Doctor saddened. "How did she die?"

"Long story short, she fell off my cloud in the sky...it was only when I saw her grave that read 'Clara Oswin Oswald' that I made it my goal to find her. The mystery - the girl who died twice, and you're right it is impossible...I need to know."

James looked back to Clara. "So it's her. It's Oswin."

"Theoretically, however she doesn't know anything about it. Almost as if she had yet to live it...so don't mention it."

James nodded as the Captain of the submarine barged over to the Doctor and started backing him into the wall, cornering him.

"You! You and the female are trying to attack us! We were perfectly fine down here until you sabotaged us to drown!"

The Doctor threw up his hands in defense. "Captain, we didn't attack of your ship out here. Now we need to get the pumps working to get her afloat."

"Yeah, we'll last till the rescue ship comes."

"If it comes."

"Oh, the sinking is just a coincidence, is it? Who are you?"

James noticed that Clara was regaining consciousness and started to stand up as she clutched her head. He slowly started to walk over to her, trying not to startle her as well as send him into a shock, still disbelieving it was her.

The Doctor grunted. "All right, Captain, all right. You know what? Just this once, no dissembling, no psychic paper, no pretending to be an Earth Ambassador. I'm the Doctor, me and Clara, time travellers. Clara, you okay?"

She rubbed the back of her head. "Think so." She looked down to see that she was wearing a soviet jacket and looked up to see James without one. He waved awkwardly as she smirked at him, causing his face to redden. Yup, that's Oswin alright…

The Captain shook his head in disbelief. "Time travellers?"

"We arrived here out of thin air. You just saw it happen."

A man named Grisenko who appeared to be a member of the maintenance crew raised his hand and mentioned he hadn't seen it happen, only for the Doctor to shake his head, mentioning that wasn't their problem.

Clara stood there confused. "We were sinking?"

The Doctor looked over to her and nodded. "Yes."

"What happened?"

"We sank."

James snorted at the Doctor's remark that made Clara roll her eyes. "No, what happened to the Tardis, I mean."

" Never mind that. Listen. Captain, breath's precious down here. Let's not waste it, eh?"

The Captain pushed the Doctor up against the wall harder as he grinned and bared his teeth. "You're right. Maybe I can save a little oxygen by having you both shot!"

James crossed his arms. "That seems a little bit unnecessary…"

Clara nodded as she looked to James. "I agree with soldier boy. What does it matter how we arrived? The important thing is to get…" She turned around to look back towards the Doctor and the Captain only to freeze as her eyes landed on something massive. "...out." James and the rest of the soldiers that were standing by him froze as they all stared at the massive, armoured beast that was currently standing behind the Doctor. James finally stepped towards Clara and grabbed her shoulders slowly and brought her backwards, further away from the monster.

The Doctor, not having noticed the monster behind him, continued the argument. "Exactly! Number one priority, not suffocating." It was then that the Captain noticed the monster behind the Doctor and let go of him, stepping backwards. The Doctor let out a sigh of relief along with a slight chuckle. "Ah. Oh, thank you. Finally seeing sense. Now, what sort of state is the sub in?"

James resisted blinking as he stared at the monster that crept up behind the Doctor. "Uh, Doc?"

The Doctor rubbed his hands together, still oblivious to the unknown threat behind him. "What about the radio? Can we send a-"

Clara screamed at the Doctor only for him to give her a disapproving look before hearing a slight hissing noise. "What is that? Gas? It could be gas?" He turned around slowly and looked up at the armoured alien behind him. "Ah. It never rains but it pours."

Grisenko walked slowly up to the Doctor from behind. "We were drilling for oil in the ice. I thought I'd found a mammoth."

The Doctor shook his head while analyzing the alien. "It's not a mammoth."

Clara let out a heavy breath that she was holding. "What is it then?"

"It's an Ice Warrior. A native of the planet Mars. And we go way back. Way back."

The Captain snickered. "A Martian? You can't be serious."

"I'm always serious. With days off."

James grunted. "Doc."

The Doctor shrugged. "Just keeping it light, James. They're scared."

Clara was taken back at the first name basis that the Doctor and James were on. Her body shook slightly which made him tighten his hold on her shoulders. "They're scared? I'm scared."

A young Soviet Soldier rose their weapon towards the Ice Warrior, making the Martian raise his towards the young man also. The Doctor shot up between them, terrified. "No, no, no, no, no! Please, please! Wait, just...there is no need for this!" He looked away from the soldier and looked over to the Ice Warrior. "Just hear me out. You're confused, disoriented. Of course you are. You've been lying dormant in the ice for, for...for how long?" He started snapping his fingers behind him towards Grisenko. "How long professor?"

Grisenko shrugged. "By my reckoning, five thousand years."

The Doctor let out a harsh sigh. "Five thousand years? That's one hell of a nap. Can't blame you if you've got out on the wrong side of the bed. Look, nobody here wants to hurt you." He looked behind him to still see the young soldier's gun raised and quickly pushed it down. "Please, just. Tell us your name."

The Captain snorted towards his comment. "What are you talking about? It has a name?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes at the Captain's arrogance. "Of course it has a name. And a rank. It is a soldier. And it deserves our respect."

"This is madness! It is a monster!"

A low grunt was heard from the Martian. "Skaldak." The Doctor nodded his head and went to go point at the captain defiantly before turning back towards Skaldak in horror.

"What did you say?"

"I am Grand Marshal Skaldak." Before anyone else could say another word, another soldier snuck up behind Skaldak with an electric prod and electrocuted him, stunning him Doctor screamed in anger.

"NO! YOU IDIOT!" Skaldak fell to the ground as the Doctor sighed. "You idiot...Grand Marshal Skaldak…"

Claire spoke up within the silence. "You known him?"

The Doctor nodded silently. "Sovereign of the Tharsisian caste. Vanquisher of the Phobos Heresy. The greatest hero the proud Martian race has ever produced."

The Captain shook his head. "What do we do?"

The Doctor clenched his teeth together as he hissed through them, sending chills down Clara and James' spines. "Lock. Him. Up."

A few of the soldiers started to drag the unconscious Ice Warrior towards the torpedo room where he was to be chained up, as The Doctor, Clara, James, The Captain and his second in command trailed towards the Captain's office for a chat. The Doctor and the Captain were walking ahead of the group, the Doctor chatting how Skaldak should not be trusted as Clara and James followed behind them. James could hear the scuffing of boots behind him as the Captain's second in command followed close behind, attitude fully noticeable. James noticed Clara glancing periodically to him as they were walking and coughed slightly, thinking of how to break the ice. Clara buried herself deeper within his jacket, trying to warm up from the cold temperature.

"Thanks for the jacket, by the way. I never did get a chance to properly thank you."

James looked beside him to see her looking up at him, expecting a response. He shrugged and looked back forwards. "It's alright, you can keep it. You need it more than I do, Vegas."

Clara smiled at his joking nickname. "Hey, I was promised warmth and sunlight, not submarine and soviet soldiers."

"You and me both."

They both slightly chuckled as Clara extended her hand over to him. "I'm Clara."

"James." James shook her hand and stuffed both into his pant pockets afterwards. "Um, so how long have you been traveling with the Doctor?"

"This is my second week."

"Wow, a whole two weeks of full on Doctor. Annoyed of him yet?"

Clara shook her head. "Nah, I only travel with him every Wednesday so it's technically my second trip with him. Third if you count meeting him." She looked over and noticed that James was in deep thought and smiled softly. "Do you know him. The Doctor, I mean. It seems like you have both met before."

James nodded shortly. "I used to travel with him, like you are now."

She tilted her head curious. "What made you stop?"

James rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortable. "You mind if we change the subject?"

Clara instantly felt sick to her stomach. She noticed that she had hit a very sensitive nerve with James and regretted opening her big mouth from the beginning. "I'm sorry...I didn't mean to-"

"-No! No, no, no. It's fine, promise. Just...we didn't exactly part because I got tired of traveling or vice-versa. Just, some things happened that made us decide to take a break, that's all."

Clara nodded in understanding as she fidgeted with her fingers. "Do you want to talk about it?"

James shook his head. "Maybe another time. Right now, I think we should worry about the metallic Hulk that is being chained up right now."

Clara laughed at the Marvel reference that he made and had to cover her mouth. The Doctor looked backwards towards them and gave them an odd, confused look as he turned back around. As they entered the Captain's room Clara let out a sigh.

"I just, don't understand. Is he evil? I mean, he is a warrior...how feared can he be?"

The Doctor placed his arms behind his back as he licked his lips in thought. "The Ice Warriors have a different creed, Clara. A different code. By his own standards, Skaldak is a hero. It was said his enemies honoured him so much, they'd carve his name into their own flesh before they died."

Clara shivered at the Doctor's statement. "Oh, yeah. Very nice. He sounds lovely."

The Captain took a seat in his chair while brushing his fingers through his gray beard. "An Ice Warrior...explain more."

The Doctor scoffed. "There isn't time."

"Try me."

The Doctor clenched his jaw and narrowed his eyes at the soviet man. He was starting to get on his nerves. "Martian reptile know as the Ice Warrior. When Mars turned cold they had to adapt. They're bio-mechaniod. Cyborgs. Built themselves survival armour so they could exist in the freezing cold of their home world, but a sudden increase in temperature and the armour goes haywire."

James snapped his fingers. "Like the cattle-prod thing."

The Doctor pointed towards James, agreeing. "Exactly. Like with the cattle prod thing. Bit of a design flaw. To be honest, I've always wondered why they never sorted it out. Oh look, you've got me telling you about them and I said there wasn't time."

Clara stepped up next to the Doctor, worried. "Are they dangerous?"

"This one is."

The Captain's second in command walked up to the Captain, furious. "Why are we listening to this nonsense, Captain? These people are clearly enemy agents. Spies, Captain."

Clara laughed slightly, making everyone's attention in the room focus on her. "Pretty bad spies mate, I don't even speak Russian."

"What?"

"I said I don't…" Clara instantly silenced herself when she noticed the looks she was getting from everybody in the room. Everyone returned to their own conversations, as Doctor and her were bickering about the TARDIS translator and how it works. James was in the back corner zoning out, thinking about too many things, all at once. Amy, Rory and River. How Oswin was Clara or Clara was Oswin. When he was trying to piece it all together in his head, he failed to notice that the one female he had his thoughts on, was no longer in the room. Snapping out of his haze, he looked around and noticed the Doctor sitting at a computer monitor while talking into a microphone to...Clara? James walked over to Grisenko confused.

"Where's Clara?"

Grisenko pointed to the computer monitor that showed Clara slowly approaching Skaldak in the torpedo room. After hearing a slight panic noise come through the speakers from Clara, he instantly broke into a sprint towards the room she was in, along with the Doctor not too far behind him. Once he got to the turn-based door, it opened by itself as the Doctor pushed James to the side, out of the way of a moving object that zoomed past them. What was that? James ran to the door to find Clara crouched on the other side, panic-stricken. Reaching through the door, he grabbed her from underneath her arms and pulled her through the door, towards him.

He backed up into the wall, still holding a heavy breathing Clara close to him. Her hands were gripping his arms that were wrapped around her upper chest as she tried to catch her breath. The Doctor grabbed her face impatiently, trying to examine her.

"Clara, talk to me!"

Clara laughed as if in disbelief. "I did it, I'm okay. Ha, ha. I'm okay?" She looked up at the Doctor with glee in her eyes. "Did I do okay?"

The Doctor shook his head. "This wasn't a test, Clara."

"I know but..." The glee started to fade from her eyes as she feared the Doctor was upset with her.

He ran his hands through his hair and smiled. "Yeah, you did great."

"Really?"

"Really."

He walked away to join the others and Clara and James stayed where they were. James could feel the self-confidence and pride radiating from Clara and smiled. "You okay?"

She nodded as he nodded back in return. They stayed still, James holding Clara in his arms, until Clara coughed and brushed herself out of his grasp. She fixed herself as she pulled down further on his soviet jacket that she was still wearing. "Thanks for coming to get me James."

"Yeah, it was nothing." They both blushed as Clara walked towards the direction of the Doctor as James slowly trailed behind.


	4. Skaldaks Rage

The group started to walk together down the halls of the submarine. Everyone fretting about Skaldak on the loose and what he was capable of. The Captain grunted as he tried to think of solutions to getting rid of the loose alien that was roaming about in the submarine.

"Well, what can he do? Stuck down here like the rest of us. How bad can it be?"

The Doctor, who was leading the group, turned around to look back at the Captain appalled as water leaked from the top of the submarine, continuously drenching the crew.

"This sub's stuffed with nuclear missiles, Zhukov. It's fat with them. What do you think Skaldak's going to do once he finds that out? 'How bad can it be?', how bad can it be?" The Doctor turned around and mentally shook his head. "It couldn't be any worse." Instantly the submarine shook violently as a hatch in the wall opened up to let out more water within the hallway, as the submarine slid further across the cliff that it was on. It halted once more, allowing everyone to catch their breath and regain their balance. "Okay, spoke to soon."

They finally arrived at the control center of the submarine as everyone started to weigh their options. The Captain scratched his beard before calling his men over to discuss that their air was running out and the submarine had started to shut down and how there was no hope of rescue at any moment. James listened to the Captain's speech with a sad heart. All these men had a duty and that duty was to put their lives on the line for the world. He watched as all the men nodded, ready to do as instructed without hesitation and as the Captain dismissed them, carrying out the rest of their time, waiting for the next word to be given. So loyal, so ambitious...so sad.

Everyone separated as the Doctor sat down at one of the monitors and started typing away at the keys, trying to figure something out. Clara sat backwards in the chair next to him, resting her elbows on the back rest as James stood next to them with his arms crossed. All three were thinking harshly.

Clara fidgeted with her hands until she spoke a thought outloud. "Even if a missile did get launched, that wouldn't be it, would it?"

The Doctor looked up her quickly to question her choice of words as Clara defined it as 'End of the World'. The Doctor answered her without looking away from the monitor. "Well, I told you, Clara, Earth is like a storm waiting to break right now. Both sides are baring their teeth, talking up war. It would only take on tiny spark."

"Yeah, but the world didn't end in 1983, did it? Or I wouldn't be here."

James tapped her lightly on the wrist to gain her attention, making Clara turn her attention towards him and not the Doctor. "History can always be changed. It can always be rewritten. You could be born in the 1950's and die in the 1700's. No one will know and no one will ever know because they will cease to exist. If the world were to end right now, you would still be here. You would be a walking paradox, if you were to get out. We all would be."

Clara nodded, given her understanding. "And that's bad, right?" The Doctor and James nodded as a reply. The Doctor stood up and walked over to the Captain to start and devise a plan. When one was made, the crew started to arm up as Clara walked over to the Doctor. "Is it true you've never seen one outside of its shell suit?"

The Doctor looked to her curious. "Shell suit? Clara…" Clara shrugged innocently which instantly made James think the action was cute before he quickly shook the thought from his head. The Doctor noticed James' silent action from the corner of his eye and ignored it. "For an ice warrior to leave its armour is the gravest dishonour. Skaldak is desperate. He's deadly. And we have got to find him."

The professor snuck up behind them to ask the Doctor if an object he found on the ground could assist them. It was the Doctor's sonic screwdriver. The Doctor quickly ran over to grab it excitedly as he was also given a blonde doll and kissed it. Clara and James looked at each other, weirded out by the Doctor's actions.

Everyone started to explore the submarine as time moved by slowly, each dreading running into the escaped martian. The Doctor, James, Clara and the Professor were in one group as the others were either on their own or in another. They walked down a corridor as the Professor tried to comfort Clara's uneasiness, the Doctor messing with buttons, switches and valves he probably shouldn't touch and James tapping on the pipes to see which lead where. Each were in their own little world until a scream was heard along with growling. The group quickly sprinted off in the direction of the screams, down corridor to corridor, until they arrived in the room where the screams were coming from.

One of the crew members were torn apart, lying lifeless on the cold, metallic ground. The Professor mumbled to himself about how Skaldak was a monster, a savage.

The Doctor was on his knees in front of the body, examining. "No, Professor, not savage. Forensic. Well, he's dismantled them. Skaldak's learning. Learning all about you. Your strengths, your weaknesses." He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and quickly stood up, walking away, telling the group to follow. They all turned to leave, James turning around, noticing Clara wasn't moving. She stood frozen, staring at the dismantled body, horrified.

"Are you okay?" Clara shook her head slightly as he sighed. "Look away." She remained unresponsive as he softly grabbed her upper arm to try and pull her, but her feet were still planted as his hand fell down to grab hers as he tried to drag her backwards once again. This time, she shook out of her daze and turned away, following James as he took her away from the horrible sight, still holding tightly onto her hand.

They caught up to the Doctor as he was scanning the hallway and looked to see a ladder leading upwards somewhere. He turned around to notice James and Clara holding hands before he tucked his screwdriver back into his coat pocket. "Okay guys, stay here. James, come with me." James nodded as he went to join the Doctor, only to feel a pull. Looking back, he realized Clara was still holding his hand tightly, still stricken with fear. He gently pried her hand from his, making her lock eyes with him. He gave a soft smile of reassurance as she returned with a smile of her own. James walked over to the Professor as he gripped the metal bars of the ladder.

"Watch her." The Professor nodded as James joined with the Doctor. When he met up with the Doctor, he was met with a curious side glance that he knew all too well. "Alright Doc, what's on your mind?"

The Doctor shrugged as he started to examine the walls. "You and Clara. You two are getting to know each other."

James walked up to him as he started to roll up the white sleeves to his shirt to his elbows, then running a hand through his wet hair, ruffling it. "Well, after this is all over, when we find the Tardis, I'm coming with you. Might as well get to know the girl you swooped up and who I will be joining on your spectacular adventures. Don't want to be a stranger."

The Doctor leaned against the wall as if pushing on it before smacking his hand to rest on it, leaning against the wall casually. "That's not what I meant and you know it." James gave a curious look to him before the Doctor nodded. "I see you, ya know? You think I don't notice, but I do. The way you look at her like a ghost, a mystery. The same way I do. But I noticed more in your actions and your stares." He walked over calmly to James with his arms crossed. "You can't fool me. I know you too well. You look at her with curiosity and admiration. Your attention is more on Clara than Skaldak, which may I remind you, is the problem at hand. But none of that matters to you, does it? Why do you want to be near her so badly? To protect her? What is it that you aren't telling me."

James sighed as he looked to his feet. "You said it yourself, Doc. She's a mystery. One that is worth solving and I would like to solve it, just as much as you." He met his eyes as he clenched his jaw. "You're right. I am so intrigued by her yet so…" He licked the bottom of his lip and bit it slightly as he looked away. "You might not think I'm worried about the situation but I am. I'm just more concerned about her. You told me, that every time you met her, she dies. I lost her once and you lost her twice. I'm trying to make sure, it doesn't happen again. That's it. As far as I know, that is."

The Doctor nodded as he shifted his feet, letting James continue. "Look, there may be something more or there may be something less. I'm not sure, but until I am, that's what is going on. You and I have both lost too much to stop trying now. Face it Doc, you know my past more than anyone...so based on even that fact, you should have your answer that suites to your liking."

The Doctor smirked slightly to his companion and gripped his shoulder. "That's all I needed to hear." They heard a noise as the Doctor quickly ran over to the wall, touching it again. "He's in the walls…" Him and James quickly sprint down a hallway and halted quickly upon seeing another body. The Doctor bent down and picked up a wallet that was laying beside the body. "It's Stepashin."

Rattling was heard above them as the Doctor started scanning the ceiling. James laughed nervously. "Uh, I think he's above us now." Hissing was heard and a quick movement above them made them shiver. The Doctor gulped. "Oh, he's fast. He is very fast." The movement continued behind him as James announced that he was heading back towards Clara and the Professor. They started to run down the hall, slowly losing their breaths from the lack of oxygen that was depleting from the submarine. As they were going down another ladder, shots were heard firing, which only made them run faster. They came running up behind Clara as Skaldak was holding the Professor's head.

Clara held a hand to her chest frightened. "No, please don't hurt him. Please! Please!" The Doctor ran past her to confront Skaldak as James grabbed Clara by her shoulders. Her hand quickly rose upwards slightly to grab his as he gripped hers back gently, comfortingly.

Skaldak's voice rang throughout the ceiling vents. "You attacked me. Martian law decrees that the people of this planet are forfeit. I now have all the information I require. It will only take one missile to begin the process to end this Cold War."

The Doctor held up his left hand protectively. "Grand Marshal, there is no need for this. Listen to me."

"My distress call has not been answered. It will never be answered. My people are dead. They are dust. There is nothing left for me except my revenge." He snarled harshly which made Clara shake in James grasp.

The Doctor shook his head, frantic. "There is something left for you, Skaldak. Mercy."

"Mercy?"

The Captain walked in to join them, pushing past James and Clara to stand next to the Doctor, assault rifle in hand, ready to fire. "You must wear that armour for a reason, my friend. Let's see, shall we?" James pulled Clara closer to him, away from the deranged Captain who started to wave about his gun as the Doctor quickly pushed down his weapon, telling him to wait. "I'll do whatever it takes to defend my world, Doctor!"

"Yes, great. Fine, good. But we are getting somewhere here. We are...We are negotiating. Jaw-Jaw, not war-war."

James looked to the Doctor surprised. "Churchill?" The Doctor nodded as the Captain agreed. "Very well. We'll negotiate, but from a position of strength." The Captain raised his gun to point at Skaldak once more.

Skaldak let out a hiss. "Excellent tactical thinking. My congratulations, Captain. Unfortunately, your position is not, perhaps, as strong as you might hope."

The Doctor looked around curious. "What do you mean?"

Stomping was heard as Skaldak released the Professor and ran off towards his armour that was the source of the stomping. It had walked to Skaldak's position as he rejoined with his armour. The Doctor shook his head. "He summoned the armour."

Clara looked astonished yet surprised. "How did it do that?"

"Sonic tech, Clara. The song of the ice warrior." A soldier started to fire at the walking suit of armour before the Doctor could stop him.

Skaldak's voice rang out once more, as it held more bite. "My world is dead. But now there will be a second red planet. Red with the blood of humanity."

The Doctor and the Soviet crew ran after Skaldak as James and Clara stayed behind again. James could almost hear Clara's heart beat beating against her rib cage. "Clara, what's wrong?"

She let out a rigid breath. "It's happening. It's going to happen. The world, it's going to end, isn't it?" He spun her around to face him as she wouldn't look at him. "The paradox, it's going to happen. The future as we knew it, gone just like that? We aren't getting out of this…"

James rubbed her shoulders soothingly. "Breathe, Clara. It'll be okay."

"No it won't." She raised her eyes to look at him. "I'm going to die, aren't I?" The question made James stiffen instantly. He placed his hand on her jaw so his fingers were brushing the back of her neck as his thumb brushed her cheek. He shook his head defiantly. "Not on my watch." She nodded as he grabbed her hand and ran towards the direction of the others.

They entered the control room where red lights were flashing, alarm buzzing from the missiles being prepared for launch as the Doctor was standing in front of Skaldak, asking him how he wanted to be remembered, by the destroyer of Earth. "Because that's what you'll be if you send those missiles. Not a soldier. A murderer." Skaldak grunted as he turned away from the Doctor, back to the controls of the missiles. "Five billion lives extinguished. No chance for goodbyes. A world! A world snuffed out like a candle flame!" Skaldak started to reach for the button which made the Doctor more hectic. "All right. All right, Skaldak. You leave me no choice. I'm a Time Lord, Skaldak. I know a thing or two about sonic technology myself."

He rose his sonic screwdriver towards Skaldak, making him turn around. "A threat? You threaten me, Doctor?"

"No. No, not you. All of us. I will blow this sub up before you can even reach that button, Grand Marshal, blow us all to oblivion!"

"You would sacrifice yourself?"

"In a heartbeat." The Doctor flicked open his sonic screwdriver as it started to buzz with a red light at the tip.

"Mutually assured destruction." Skaldak turned back around towards the controls.

"Look into my eyes, Skaldak. Look into my eyes. Tell me you're capable of doing this. Huh? Can you do that? Dare you do that? Look into my eyes, Skaldak! Come on! Face to face!"

The Martian turned back around. "Well, Doctor." Skaldak's helmet was removed sonically as his face was revealed. "Which of us shall blink first?"

The room was silent until Clara leaned forward from the back of the room. "Why did you hesitate? Back there, in the dark? You were going to kill this man, remember?" She pointed to the professor. "I begged you not to and you listened. Why show compassion then, Skaldak, and not now?" Skaldak didn't respond as she took a brave step forward. "The Doctors right. Billions will die. Mothers, sons, fathers, daughters. Remember that last battle, Skaldak? Your daughter. You sang the songs…"

"Of the red snows."

Crashing was heard as the sub shook once more. Clara tried gripping onto a surface, only to grab onto James' shirt. "What's happening?"

"My people live. They have come for me."

The Captain looked over to one of the monitors and smiled. "Rising. We're rising!" They were thrown once more as The Doctor and Clara grabbed onto pipes coming off the wall as James held onto a pole. The Doctor smiled slightly. "We've surfaced. Your people have saved us."

Skaldak hissed towards the Doctor. "Saved me, not you."

"Just go, Skaldak, please. Please, go in peace."

Skaldak was transported out of the submarine as Clara let out a gasp. "We did it. We did it!"

The Doctor ran over to the monitor, noticing that the alarm was still going off and that the missiles were still prepared. "It's still armed. A single pulse from that ship…" He tapped his sonic screwdriver against his forehead and shut his eyes tightly. "I'll destroy us if I have to. I will destroy us if I have to. Show mercy, Skaldak."

Clara started to hum a song to herself, catching the Doctors and James attention. "I'm lost and I'm found...and I'm hungry like the wolf…" She unconsciously grabbed James hand as he started to hum it with her. A few seconds past before the alarms stopped and the missiles were deactivated.

The whole crew took a deep sigh of relief as the Doctor closed his sonic screwdriver, wiping the sweat from his forehead. James walked up to the Doctor as they smiled at each other, high-fiving. Clara walked up to James and the Doctor and quickly wrapped her arms around James' neck, bringing him into a hug. James looked at the Doctor startled, only for him to send him a wink. Clara cleared her throat nervously as she crossed her arms, nudging the Doctor.

"So we did it. Saved the world then?"

James nodded. "Yup."

"It's what we do."

The Doctor laughed. "Yeah."

They all walked to the roof of the submarine to stand outside on the top of the sub, and look up at the gigantic space ship above them, while snow fell around them and there was nothing but glaciers in the nearby distance. Clara smacked the Doctor on the arm quickly. "The Tardis! Where's the Tardis? You never explained."

The Doctor rested against the edge of the sub. "Oh, well, don't worry about that."

"Stop saying that. Where is it?"

"Yeah, well, I wasn't to know. Was I?"

"Know what?"

"I've been tinkering, breaking her in. I'm allowed."

"What did you do?"

The Doctor mumbled making Clara glare at him. "I reset the HADS! The Hostile Action Displacement system. If the Tardis comes under attack, gunfire, time winds, the sea, it...relocates."

James shook his head. "Oh, Doc. You haven't changed. Where is it now?"

The sonic started to buzz as the Doctor took it out to look at it. "It's at the pole!"

Clara walked off triumphantly. "Not far, then!"

"...The South pole."

Clara stopped in her footsteps. "Ah."

The Doctor looked towards the Captain and asked for a lift, making him laugh along with everyone else. The Doctor mimicked him, annoyed, as they all walked back into the submarine, ready to relax on there journey to the Doctor's Tardis. James was eager to see that blue box again and join the Doctor once more on his travels, along with Clara.


	5. Center Of The Tardis

James leaned against the metal railing of the Tardis with a humourous glee in his eyes, as he watched the Doctor and Clara walk around the console bickering. The Doctor was wearing a white dress shirt with a gray vest on top, while Clara was wearing a red polka dotted dress with her hair put up into a bun. James on the other hand was dressed less formal-like with his black skinny jeans, red converse and a white long sleeve sweater that hugged his broad frame.

The Doctor shrugged confused as he followed his female companion around the console. "You said-"

"I know what I said. I was the one who said it." Clara replied as her arms were crossed.

"You said it was looking at you, funny."

"I was tired, overwrought, I didn't mean it. It's an appliance. It does a job."

"Yes! Pretty cool appliance! We're not talking cheese grater here."

"You're not getting me to talk to your ship, that's properly bonkers."

Offended, the Doctor started rubbing his hands against the console and started to whisper soothing words to it. Clara rolled her eyes at his actions. "You're like one of those guys who can't go out with a girl unless his mother approves."

James let out a quick laugh which made the Doctor glare at him, quickly making James throw his hands upwards in defense. "James, back me up here."

James squinted his eyes confused. "With what?"

"With explaining to Clara that it is important that these two get along. Ya know, we could leave you two alone together?" He mentioned as he looked back towards Clara who shook her head.

"Now, you're creeping me out."

James scratched the back of his head. "How about she gives the Tardis controls a try? Can't bond with the machine unless you are one WITH the machine."

The Doctor snapped his fingers agreeing. "Excellent idea. How 'bout it Clara? Take a wheel. Not the wheel. I'll make it easy. Shut it down to basic mode for you."

"Basic?" Clara leaned against the console. "Because I'm a girl?"

The Doctor disagreed yet hid a smirk when she looked away only to quickly make it disappear when she looked back at him. He turned a key after hitting some buttons until a noise was heard, then held out his hands towards the console to signal Clara's turn to drive. She started to flip switches when the Doctor said to, hit buttons that he pointed to and evaluate certain mechanisms on the dash of the console in front of her to make sure everything was steady. She held a smile on her face as she realized she was actually flying the Tardis all by herself, which also made James smile as he watched her from the railing.

Clara quickly threw down a lever with pride until the Tardis started to power down, causing the lights to dim and the Tardis become stationary. They all looked around confused for a moment, wondering what went wrong.

James looked around and lowered his voice in a mocking tone. "Hey, who turned out the lights?" The Doctor turned around and pointed to him to keep quiet as James smiled to himself at their inside joke from the Doctor's past. He turned back around to see Clara press her hands together worried.

"What have I done?"

Before the Doctor could answer, the Tardis powered back on, only for unknown rock music to be playing through the ship with the lights flashing red and a strange beeping noise ringing throughout the room. The Doctor looked towards a screen on the console curious as the beeping continued. Clara walked up next to him, frightened she might have broken something.

"Doctor?"

Whirring and clanking was heard as the Doctor started to rapidly throw switches in different directions. "Seems the electrical impulses are jammed. I can't get the shield back up!" He grunted as he tried raising a lever as his voice became strained. "She's completely vulnerable."

Clara shrugged defensively. "I swear, I just touched it."

The Doctor grunted as he through the switch upwards only for them to be thrown backwards slightly as an explosion ripped through the console. James and Clara stood by the railing holding on as the Doctor ran up to the console, trying to fix what was happening. "Magnetic overbuild! We're flying right into it! James, stay by Clara!"

James moved closer to Clara as he looked around at all the sparks flying everywhere as the Tardis shook. "Please, tell me you can fix this Doc!"

Clara nodded. "Isn't there a button you could just push or something?"

"Oh, yes, big, friendly button!"

"Are you lying?"

"Yes."

"To stop me freaking out!?"

"Is it working?"

"Not so much!"

The Tardis sparked again as they ducked quickly, covering their faces. Clara noticed something roll towards her and bent over to pick it up only for it to burn her hand as she dropped it. She quickly stumbled backwards into James who grabbed her hand that got burnt to try and look at it. Before he could get a look, they were thrown around the Tardis and without being able to look where he was being thrown, the back of his head smacked the metal railing. He watched Clara be thrown past him before everything went black.

/

James's eyes squinted as he began to gain consciousness. He felt hands on his chest before they rose to his face, holding his head as he groaned from the pain of being previously thrown around. He opened his eyes slowly to look into Clara's worried ones. "Clara?"

"James. Thank god, you're okay."

James sat up and breathed in sharply as he felt a great pain in the back of his head. Before he could raise his hands to check, Clara beat him to it, placing her hand behind his neck and pushed him to lean forwards so she could get a better look. James sighed hesitantly. "How bad is it?"

"Not that bad. You're bleeding but nothing that won't need stitches...I hope."

He looked at her shocked. "You hope?"

Clara rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm not a doctor. I can't really tell but it doesn't look that beat up. You should be fine."

He nodded before looking around. "Speaking of that, where is the Doc?"

She shrugged as she helped him to his feet. "I don't know, but we should probably find him fast. I have a weird feeling about all this."

"Meaning?"

Clara ushered him to follow her as she walked further down the hallway and showed him something she found on her way to look around the Tardis. It was deep scratches within the metal wall of the Tardis that looked like claw marks. James looked at it closer, astonished. "Wow. Um, maybe…"

Clara looked at him questionally. "Maybe what?"

He scratched his neck nervous. "I was going to come up with a logical explanation for this...but I can't." Clara looked back towards the marking and ran her fingers across it as if mapping out the path of the marks. They quickly looked over to their side as they heard a slight growl from down the hallway.

James looked back to Clara worried. "Perhaps, we should stick together." She nodded as they headed in the opposite direction of the sound. They started to walk down different hallways that formed into each other, trying to find their way out of the labyrinth. They decided to walk into a room that was concealed by an old fashioned wooden door. As they closed it behind them they turned around to be frozen in amazement at the room they wandered into. It was filled to the brim with different types of knick-knacks and objects from the Doctor's past.

James and Clara walked around the room, surprised by everything their eyes were talking in. "Wow, Clara check out all this stuff! This is awesome."

Clara looked at some books that were placed neatly on a bookshelf that all had different dates inscribed on the side. "Do you think all of this belongs to the Doctor?"

James smirked. "Well, I hope so or our precious Doc has been a naughty boy." Clara nudged him as they looked at all the antiques the Doctor has collected over his past regenerations. Clara noticed a crib with a mobile hanging above it that represented stars and planets. She flicked the metal mobile and smiled as it rang a noise from the metal pieces hitting each other. James noticed a makeshift Tardis made out of cardboard and started to fly it around Clara while making plane noises.

Clara giggled as she walked over to another shelf. "I don't think the Tardis really makes plane noises."

James shrugged. "Let me pretend for once, Oswin."

Clara looked at him curious with a smile. "Oswin?"

James shook his head quickly, trying to play his mistake off. "Oswald. I meant, Oswald." She nodded and quickly turned around to pick up an umbrella that held a victorian look to it. She turned around to show James, only to see him frozen, staring at the bottom of the makeshift Tardis.

"James? You okay?"

James nodded. "Yeah, it's just...I know who made this."

"Who?"

He shook his head as she peered over to see scribbles of a name on the bottom of the Tardis. "An old friend." He put it back on the shelf as they heard the same growling noise again, although it was in the room with them. They saw a shadow figure which gave them enough incentive to run back into the hallway, shutting the door behind them. That didn't last long though however, as the door was shot open as the figure started to chase them. James grabbed Clara's hand as they ran down corridors, trying to shake off the figure from their trail. They passed a room with a giant telescope and then a swimming pool that Clara halted to look at quickly before James tugged her hand to keep running.

They ran down another hallway and into a room that resembled a Library as they hid behind a shelf. James looked around the corner off the bookshelf, unsure if the figure saw them run into the room. "I don't know what the hell that was, but I don't want to find out." Clara nodded as she started to blow on her hand again once she started to feel it burn. James looked back to her hand and grabbed it softly, rubbing his fingers across the scar. "How's it feel?"

Clara shrugged. "Sometimes I get that burning sensation but it's easy to ignore."

James nodded and dropped her hand as something caught the corner of his eye. As he started to walk over to it, Clara was looking as the vast library that they had stumbled into. "Now this is just showing off." She started to follow James as he was walking up to a podium at the end of the library that held a giant book on top that was covered in dust. Slightly brushing his hand over the top, he noticed an engraving onto a gold piece that showed off the books nature. James tilted his head while reading the title of the book, curious. "The History of the Time War? That was the war the Doctor was in…"

Clara stepped up next to him, just as intrigued as he was. "Should we open it?"

Without a second thought, James opened the book and started to flip the pages one by one, waiting for something to catch his eye. As he was flipping through the pages, he halted on the page that listed all the Time Lords who had participated in the war. As he read the right side, Clara read the left and found the Doctor's name. "The Doctor...his name." James looked over but before he could catch a glimpse there was a distant thud and growling coming from behind them. They ran behind a bookshelf as they could hear the figure walking around looking for them. By the way it sounded it was as if the figure was trying to smell them. As it walked by they ran behind another bookshelf, trying to get closer to the door. James leaned into Clara's ear.

"When I say run you-"

"I know. Run."

They waited for a bit as Clara leaned around the corner to peak. When the figure turned around she quickly hid behind the bookshelf again, only to knock over a vial above her. Distant voices started to ring out from the bottle as purple enchantments were released from it. She quickly flapped her hand in front of her bottle to silence the voices and as they softly disappeared, they heard the figure walk closer to them slowly. Clara looked to James as he held a finger to his lips, telling her to stay quiet for the moment being. As the figure ran past them snarling, they made a break for the door, running into the hallway.

They quickly came to a halt as they ended up inside the console room. James ran his fingers through his messy hair and sighed. "Oh, thank god!" Clara laughed in excitement and ran up to the console, leaning forward and kissing it. James laughed as he joined her. "Looks like you two are getting along very nicely now."

Clara groaned. "Oh, shut it!" She pushed him slightly as they started to smile, happy they are back in the main room of the Tardis. James looked over to the front door of the Tardis and quickly ran over.

"No…" He ran up to it only to be faced with a concrete wall. He started to run his hands over the wall confused. "Where's the door?"

Clara ran up to the door and started to knock on it frantically. She smacked the door and turned around to face the center console. "You can't do this!" James grabbed her arm, turning her around to look at him.

"Clara, I don't think the Tardis is behind this."

Clara held her head in her hands afraid. "What are we going to do?"

James grabbed her hands and brought them away from her face, causing her to look at him. "Clara, we will find a way out, I promise you. The Doctor is out there somewhere and he will not leave us behind."

Clara looked at James, slowly losing hope as she licked her lips nervous. "How do you know that?"

"You don't know the Doctor like I do. He will stop at nothing to save his friends. That I can promise you."

She shook her head, contemplating before sitting down in a chair that was against the railing, as James kneeled down infront of her, still holding her hands in her lap. "Pinky swear?"

James nodded. Objects quickly fell off the console and onto the ground as if someone pushed them off. They turned to look at the objects as a lever got thrown down next. Clara stood up and started to look around cautiously. "What was that?"

James shrugged as buttons started to be pressed. He felt Clara brush past him frightened and as he turned to look at her, he watched as she smacked the button to open the door as the figure was standing on the other side. It snarled frantically as it ran towards her, causing James to quickly grab her and pull her back. James pushed Clara behind him as it started to come towards them menacingly. They circled around the console before they all stopped in their movements, staring at eachother. James felt Clara grip his arm as he held his hand up to the figure, ready to push it back if needed. "Who are you?" The figure growled and advanced towards them once more, cornering them into the doorway of the Tardis. With their backs pressed firmly against the door and no room to run, the figure walked up to them, raising its hand as steam rose from the burnt flesh.

James wrapped his arm around Clara to pull her closer as she hugged his waist. "Stay behind me, Clara. No matter what. You make a run for it if I can't."

She shook her head. "I'm not leaving you."

She screamed as the figure reached forwards towards them. They each felt a hand grip their bodies and pull them forward as Clara began to scream louder, frightened at what was to become of them. James opened his eyes to see the Doctor and two men standing in the console room as the Doctor tried to calm down Clara who was still freaking out. She punched the Doctor's arm harshly as he winced from the pain.

The Doctor looked at her shocked. "Alright, so we're not doing the hugging. I get that now!"

Clara turned back to him, frustrated. "What do you keep in here? Why have you got zombie creatures? Good guys, do not have zombie creatures. Rule one, basic storytelling!" She hit him once more as James grabbed her shoulders, bringing her backwards from the Doctor, surprised by her anger at him.

The Doctor held up his hands and pointed to the two men. "Not in front of the guests."

She looked over shocked, as if seeing them for the first time since they entered the real console room. "Who are they?"

"Friends. Well, people who aren't trying to kill us, so I don't need punching again."

Clara stormed away from the Doctor towards James as the men started talking to the Doctor about a deal they made. James stepped back quickly, afraid her next punch would be at him, only to receive a questioning glare from the girl. He let out a slight chuckle. "I thought it was my turn to be punched." Clara shook her head and raised her hand to run down his arm soothingly before walking to the metal railing and resting her elbows on top while holding her head in her hands. James was stiff from the action he received from Clara and a little set back by it. He really thought she was going to punch him next.

James zoned back in as Clara cleared her throat while looking at the Doctor. "Something you want to share with the rest of us?" James turned his attention towards the Doctor as he was staring at the console, nervous as the monitor began to flash red.

"It appears the engine is damaged. We're in trouble, Clara. Proper trouble. It need fixing or we're toast." The Doctor sprinted down the stairs and into the hallway away from everybody else as Clara rolled her eyes as her and the others started to follow. "So now would be a good time to use that big, friendly button right?"

"Yes, sorry. I should've had one built in."

"Where are we going?" Asked James as the Doctor used his sonic screwdriver on one of the panels in the wall.

"Detour." The panel opened up to reveal a shaft. "The center of the Tardis." They entered the shaft one by one that led into a tinier hallway but just slightly big enough were they didn't have to duck while walking. The Doctor started to scan everything left to right with the sonic screwdriver as Clara and James followed close behind him, the two men shuffling behind James obnoxiously. They halted in their steps as they heard growling with quick movement. One of the men behind James spoke about how they were followed as Clara started to investigate the Doctor.

"What aren't you telling me?"

The Doctor gulped as he avoided eye contact. "Trust me. Some things you don't wanna know." Growling was heard from behind, making them all turn around quickly. One of the men ran past the group afraid as the Doctor told them to run. They ran until they thought they were safe until James looked around, as his stomach began to drop. "Where's Clara?"

The Doctor began to look as well and smacked his head. "Of course, we got separated, I knew this would happen." He ran a hand through his hair frantic. "Alright, James. You wait here and keep on eye on them, I'm going to go find Clara."

Before he could protest, the Doctor ran off. Leaving James with the two strangers. Rolling up the sleeves of his shirt to his elbows, he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, sighing. They waited in silence until echoes were heard behind the walls. One of the men asked what it was, as a pipe stabbed through the wall passed James, barely skimming his arm. He held his hand over where the pipe slightly cut his arm as another one shot out the wall and into one of the men's shoulders. His friend grabbed the pipe and tried to pull it out but it was no use.

"Cut my arm off, just cut my arm off! It's the quickest way to release me."

The other man shouted that he wasn't going to do that. The impaled man groaned. "No fear. No pain. I can get a new one. Disposable parts. Just do it. It won't hurt me."

The other man shook his head as he held an electrical saw blade in his hands. "Tricky, you don't understand."

"I'm an android, cut me!"

Clara ran into the hallway with the Doctor and froze as they saw the man impaled by the pipe. The Doctor walked over to the two men as Clara's eyes landed on James, clutching his bicep. She stormed over and grabbed his hand, pulling it away to see the pipes cut on his upper arm. James laughed slightly. "Stings like hell, but it ain't that bad. Good thing I got my tetanus shot." Clara smiled softly as they turned to look at the wounded man. The Doctor informed the android man how he was actually a human and his brothers made it a sick joke for in-flight entertainment.

He started slapping his hands together. "Cut the metal! Cut it! C'mon!"

Clara turned around as the electric saw blade was turned on, and she tucked her head into James' shoulder. She mumbled something as James questioned what she said. She perked her face up a bit. "I said I can't watch. Once the metals cut he's going to be pried off it. I can't…" James tucked her hand back into his shoulder.

"I'll tell you when it's over." Screams rang out through the hallway; echoing endlessly until silence. James rubbed Clara's shoulder, gaining her attention as he grabbed her hand and started to follow the others as they walked through the halls again, the false android man gripping his shoulder in pain.

"Where are we?" The eldest brother asked.

The Doctor looked through a small window in a door, finding what he was essentially looking for. "Power source. Right. You lot wait here, I'll check if it's safe. We can only survive for a minute or two in there."

Clara eagerly tapped the Doctor's shoulder gaining his attention. "Um, what happens if we stay longer?"

"Our cells will liquefy and our skin will start to burn."

Clara shook her head. "I always feel so good after we've spoken."

Ignoring her remark the Doctor continued on. "Marvellous. Keep this door shut."

"That will not be a problem."

The door opened as the Doctor quickly ran inside, having it shut behind him. Clara crossed her arms and leaned against the wall as James stood next to her. The eldest brother held a device in his hand that seemed to have scanned Clara.

"Lancashire. Sass." The device spoke, making James scoff, earning him a glare from the female next to him. The eldest brother shrugged.

"Intelligent sensor." He held a smirk on his face as the youngest brother sneered at him.

"Ever pointed that thing at yourself, Gregor? What would it see? What sort of person does this to another human? Made them believe they're out of metal." Gregor walked away before being spun back around. "Who am I?"

Gregor sighed as he ripped off a patch on his arm and handed it to him, giving him the answer and walked away. James looked to Clara, clenching his jaw and frowning. "Drama." He sang out under his breath. Clara rolled her eyes smiling at his uncomfortable joke. The two started to bicker back and forth about how the younger brother, Tricky, was in a salvage accident. Lost his sight, voice and memories and they replaced it with parts. They lied to him because he was to be captain of their ship and Gregor wanted the position. The two charged for each other and started to fight.

Clara shouted for them to stop as the Doctor came back into the room and tore them apart. He looked right at Tricky. "Stop and ask yourself. Ask yourself why he couldn't cut you up. He has just one tiny scrap of decency left in him and you helped him find that. Okay?" He turned to look at Gregor. "Now, you...Don't ever forget this." They nodded as the Doctor let them go and threw open the door to the power source, yelling to move.

They all ran inside to be standing on a metal bridge, sweating from the blazing heat that was surrounding them. They looked up to see a burning star in the room. "The Eye Of Harmony." The Doctor shouted over the loud noise. "Exploding star, in the act of becoming a black hole. Time Lord engineering. You rip the star from its orbit, suspend it in a permanent state of decay. This way, quickly!" He gestured them to follow him further down the bridge, as the Doctor opened the other door, to reveal one of the monsters on the other side. Quickly shutting it, the two brothers ran to the other door to have the same issue.

Gregor started to panic as he looked at the Doctor. "There's no way out, we're trapped."

James went to open his mouth as the Doctor ran by but Clara beat him to it. "You're going to tell me right now! If we're going to die here you're going to tell me what they are!"

The Doctor looked at her stunned. "I can't."

"Tell me. What's the use of secrets now?"

"Secrets protect us. Secrets make us safe."

"We're not safe!"

Banging was heard on the glass window of the door as Gregor's scanner started to speak. "Sensor detects animal DNA. Human core element. Calculating data. Calculating data."

The Doctor ran over, screaming to turn it off but it had already spoken. "Lancashire. Sass. Identifiable substance. Clara."

The Doctor turned back to look at her as Clara stared at him in disbelief. James looked between the two unsure. "Doc?" The Doctor remained silent. "Doc, is that thing correct? Is that...thing out there, Clara?" The Doctor nodded as Clara walked up to him.

"That's me?"

He sighed. "I'm so sorry."

"That's me...I burn in here."

"It isn't just the past leaking out through the time rift. It's the future." He grabbed her and turned her around facing him. "Listen. I brought you here to keep you safe but it happened again. You died again."

Clara looked at him confused. "What do you mean, again?"

James walked up to them and grabbed his shoulder. "Doc, do you really think now is the time and place for this?" The Doctor walked away sighing, beginning to think deeply. James felt a pull on his arm and looked over at Clara.

"What does he mean? What do you know?"

He shook his head. "I'm sorry, but it's not my place to say."

"Please, James, tell me."

James sighed as her brown eyes stared back into his grey ones. He went to open his mouth but the Doctor began shouting.

"Hang on! As long as we interrupt the timeline, this can't happen." He ran up to the two boys touching shoulders and ripped them apart. "Don't touch each other, otherwise the future will reassert itself." The monster broke open the door as it grabbed the backpack of Gregor, pulling him backwards. "Gregor, let go of the circuit!"

He slipped out of the backpack as Tricky grabbed him. They started to run but soon found themselves trapped once more on the bridge as the monsters started to advance. Tricky and Gregor were facing one way while Clara and James facing the opposite with the Doctor in the middle. The Doctor ran his hands through his hair, contemplating.

Tricky ran forward and knocked the conjoined monsters over the edge only to fall over himself, quickly grabbing onto the steel flooring. Gregor ran over to help him up as the Doctor yelled at him to stop. Before their eyes, the two brothers formed into the monster that they just destroyed and started to run after them. The Doctor, Clara and James ran out the open doorway, away from the monsters, and shut the door behind them as the Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to lock the door tight.

Looking around where they were, Clara and James were stunned. The Doctor walked ahead in front of them. "The engine room. The heart of the Tardis." They ran forwards only to be met with a cliff. Clara looked down the cliff, startled.

"We're outside?"

The Doctor shook his head. "No. We're still in the Tardis."

James looked ahead of them and grunted. "There's no way across."

The Doctor shrugged, thinking. "No, okay. You're right."

Clara looked back to the Doctor. "So what do we do? Time for a plan. Do you have a plan?"

"Well...no. No plan, sorry."

"If you don't have a plan, we're dead."

"Yes we are." He turned back to look at Clara in an accusing manner. "So, just tell me."

She mentally shook her head as she looked back at him. "Tell you what?"

"Well, there's no point now. We're about to die. Just tell me who you are."

"You know who I am."

"No, I don't. I look at you every single day and I don't understand a thing about you. Why do I keep running into you?"

"Doctor, you invited me. You said that…"

The Doctor pointed his finger at her, cutting her off. "Before that. I met you at the Dalek asylum. There was a girl in a shipwreck and she died saving my life and she was you."

Clara shook her head. "She really wasn't."

"Victorian London. There was a governess who was really a barmaid and we fought the Great Intelligence together. She died, and it was my fault, and she was you!"

Clara shook frightened. "You're scaring me."

James walked up to the Doctor and pushed him backwards slightly, earning a quick glare to him before returning it back to Clara. "Doctor, stop this right now!"

The Doctor pushed past James. "What are you, eh!? A trick? A trap?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

Clara took a step backwards and started to loose balance on the edge of the cliff. James reached for her but the Doctor grabbed her and brought her into her arms as Clara grabbed onto him for her life. He pulled back to look at her, smiling "You really don't, do you?"

"I think I'm more scared of you right now than anything else in this Tardis."

He smiled even wider as he looked at her. "You're just Clara, aren't you? Eh? Huh?" He started to chuckle as he played with her face before bringing her into another hug. He pulled away quickly again before looking around. "We're not going to die here. This isn't real…" He bent down to pick up a rock before throwing it over the edge of the cloudy cliff. James and Clara looked at each other, guilty eyes looking into confused ones. "It's a snarl! What does a wounded animal do? It tries to scare everyone away. We're close to the engine, the Tardis is snarling at us, trying to frighten us off. We need to jump."

James shook his head. "That's insane."

"We'll cross the portal to the engine."

Clara and James started to question his belief before he silenced them. "You two ready?" They nodded as they prepared themselves. "Geronimo." They took off into a sprint and jumped off the cliff. James expected them to be falling but as they jumped they immediately met solid ground. They looked up to see floating metal shards surrounding them in a bright white room.

They walked around as the Doctor spoke. "The heart of the Tardis. The engine. It's already exploded. It must have been the collision with the salvage ship. She wrapped her hands around the force. Froze it…"

James sighed. "So...it's safe?"

The Doctor looked away. "Temporary fix. Eventually, this whole place will erupt. There's no way I can save her now. She's just always been there for me and taken care of me and now it's my turn and I don't know what to do."

Clara walked forward to grab his hand as he looked down and noticed her burn. He looked at her before flipping her hand over to look at the damaged skin and smiled. "Oh, Clara. You are beautiful. Beautiful, fragile, human skin. Like parchment, thank you." James looked at the two and had to slightly admit that the way they were looking at each other made him jealous. "The rift in time, all the memory's leaking out. I need to find the moment we crashed. I need to find…" He flicked his sonic screwdriver up as music started to play. "...The music."

They followed the Doctor as he ran as they ended back up at the console room and went down the stairs below the controls, where there was a glowing crack in the Tardis. The Doctor smiled. "The time rift! Recent past, possible future."

Clara ran up to him. "What are you going to do?"

"Rewrite today, I hope." He took out a piece of the Tardis and burnt lettering into it with the screwdriver. "I wrote this before. I need to make sure this time, I'm going to take it in there myself. There might be a certain amount of yelling."

James, catching on, started to feel nervous. "Is it going to hurt?"

"Things that end your life often do that."

He began to walk through before Clara stopped him. She sighed. "All those things you said. How we've met before, how I died…"

He walked up to her, silencing her. "Clara, don't worry. You'll forget. Time mends us. It can mend anything."

"I don't want to forget. Not all of it. The library. I saw it. Me and James both did. You were mentioned in a book."

His face fell as his voice fell. "I'm mentioned in a lot of books."

"You call yourself Doctor. Why do you do that? You have a name. I've seen it in one corner of that tiny…"

He pressed his finger to her lips. "If I rewrite today, you won't remember. You won't go looking for my name."

She frowned slightly. "We'll still have secrets?"

"It's better that way."

The Doctor walked up to the rift and started to prepare himself as Clara and James watched. James felt a soft hand grab his and adverted his eyes from the Doctor to look at Clara staring up at him. She reached out and ran a hand through his short, unkempt brown hair as her fingers traced down to his face and rubbed down his five o'clock shadow. He looked at her questionably. "What...are you doing?"

She shrugged. "Remembering."

James laughed slightly. "Clara, you aren't going to forget me."

"I know." She smiled up at him as it all went dark.

He opened his eyes that he didn't realize he had closed and was sitting in his bedroom that was inside the Tardis. He rubbed his head, wondering if he dozed off. He tried remembering what he did last but he couldn't. He decided to shower as he left his room and bumped into a soft figure. His eyes met Clara's as he took her in. She smelled...nice. Like strawberries and all sorts of other fruit mixed together. He noticed her hair was wet and it was pushed to one side. She looked up at him, expectantly as he swallowed harshly, seeing her noticing where his eyes darting all over.

"Clara! Sorry, I was just on my way to shower." He smiled softly. "How's the water?"

She laughed at his joke. "Warm. As always."

He crossed his arms laughing. "That's good."

They stood like that for a moment before Clara broke the silence. "I'm going to get some rest. I'm exhausted."

James nodded. "Yeah, okay. Sweet dreams, Clara. Don't let the bedbugs bite!" He smiled at his own joke as she walked by.

"If they do, I know where to find you."

He blushed as she turned the corner and scratched the back of his neck before continuing his stroll towards the showers.


End file.
